Behind the Music
Jotta A.: The Unyielding Power of Grace
A 9-year old Brazilian boy named Jotta A. was encouraged by his choir director to audition for a Brazilian TV show featuring child talent in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The video I included of his performance of "Agnes Dei (Worth is the Lamb)" was his first performance on the show and the first time his voice was heard outside the walls of the church his father pastored in one of the poorest areas of Brazil, Guajará-Mirim.
The show followed a format like to "America's Got Talent," eliminating contestants after live performances week after week, Jotta won the contest singing only worship songs every round, which had never been done on the show before or since. The video above was his first appearance on the show and the audio recording next to it of "Amazing Grace" was his finale performance, leading to his win on the show.
After the show aired on TV, Jotta was offered record contracts with mainstream labels to record and publish a secular album. But he turned them down, remaining focused on only singing and recording worship music, his dream since he was a toddler and where he found the most joy, peace and satisfaction. In the decade that followed, Jotta recorded many gospel records, including his Latin Grammy awarded, Geração de Jesus, and became one of the most widely known Christian solo artist in South America.
But we live in a broken world, which often means that things do not work out quite like they should. Despite maintaining a sincere faith, Jotta's struggles eventually led him down the broken road of addiction. He suffered silently in shame and guilt, fearing being shunned by his family, Church and community. He saw no path to freedom without losing what mattered most in his life: His family, church, community and the ability to continue using his gifts to serve within each. When fame came upon Jotta suddenly at a young age, he began to struggle with pride. Having grown up in poverty, materialism was also struggle. But when the wealth that allured him as a child became a reality, it left him feeling hollow and desperate to find a way to fill the emptiness he felt inside.
As Jotta foreshadowed 13 years ago in his finale song in the audio above, indeed our chains are gone, our hearts are free. And although healing takes time (Humpty Dumpty wasn't put back together overnight), but there is no doubt that we are well on our way.
Grace Restored
An Ironic Twist of Fate
** When Jotta's was twelve years old, he had a girlfriend named Selena. At the same time, a boy living in Canada was posting songs on YouTube, hoping to be discovered for a singing career. The Canadian boy become very famous, moved to America and one day met Selena that Jotta knew as a child. They became close and considered getting married, but the Canadian boy was now a man, struggling with the same problems Jotta had recently overcome. Selena thought Jotta could help and introduced them to each other in Brazil in 2016. Shortly thereafter, the Canadian reached out to his old pastor for counseling and publicly reclaimed the faith in God he'd had as a child: the God he sang about a decade earlier on the streets of Ontario, Canada and on YouTube. Many people doubted him and said mean things because of what he had done in his past, but thankfully he knew that what others say or think about us is not what's most important.
Angelica Hale: Turning Courage Into Song
9 year-old Angelica Hale's "Rise Up" was her first audition for the 2017 season of the TV Show "America's Got Talent" and the first time singing before a live audience.
Angelica’s miracle goes beyond her amazing voice because she was born with a condition that meant she likely would not live beyond five years old. Angelica spent her earliest years undergoing organ transplants to save her life. During long hospital stays, Angelica would cheer herself up watching videos of "America's Got Talent,” and became known at the hospital for her tendency to belt out Whitney Houston songs at all hours of the day and night.
When Angelica was 6, she contracted double pneumonia and her kidneys began to fail. The doctors informed her parents that a child kidney donor couldn't be found in time to save Angelica's life and a priest was called in to console the family. Angelica's mother begged the doctors to take her own kidney for the transplant. The doctors expected Angelica's body would reject the adult kidney, but as a last resort they performed the transplant using her mother's kidney, and transplated it into Angelica's body. As you can see in the video, both Angelica and her mother survived the surgeries, and Angelica has experienced a full recovery from the condition she suffered from during the first years of her life.
I made the same face the first time I heard her sing.
Upon hearing Angelica's story, it explained the raw display of courage given in her delivery of the song "Rise Up," as well as the look in her parents’ eyes as they watched her sing. I also included her 3rd audition where she sang "Girl on Fire" and received the rare "golden buzzer," the judges believed she was so outstanding that she automatically advanced to the final twelve contestants, skipping all the elimination rounds in between.
Epitome of Musical Power: The Universal Langauge of Song
This brother and sister from rural Changbai, China spoke no English when they performed “You Raise Me Up” on a Chinese television talent show. Their father was a professor of musical composition, yet neither child showed much interest in music—until one day they heard the song playing on their car radio.
Without understanding the language, they began practicing it together, carefully sounding out each word until their tones and inflections aligned closely enough to be recognized as English. Singing with tonal precision and emotional depth not native to Mandarin, their voices carried an almost otherworldly, angelic quality.
I included this performance because I was struck by how they conveyed such depth and meaning without fully understanding the literal lyrics. It felt almost like a prayer—something expressed from the heart when words fall short, yet still understood on a deeper level. To me, this reflects music’s extraordinary power to communicate meaning and inspire connection in ways that spoken language alone often cannot.
After the video spread online, the duo was invited to perform in the United States, where they eventually caught the attention of Josh Groban, who popularized the song more than two decades ago. He reportedly remarked that their rendition was even more moving than his own.
Well done, xiōng dì jiě mèi 兄弟姐妹!
A Mother's Prayer: Hannah's Song
This song was written and recorded by a mother as she prayed one night over her sleeping daughter, overwhelmed by what an incredible gift from God she was.
During her pregnancy, she had been told that her baby would likely be born with a serious disease called neurofibromatosis, and that her child might also be legally blind and deaf. Doctors advised her not to continue the pregnancy because of these predicted conditions.
But she ignored their advice and chose to give birth to her daughter, Hannah.
As she watched Hannah sleeping that night, she realized what a tragic loss it would have been if she had followed the conventional wisdom of the doctors.
A Mother's Prayer
When you were about four months in my womb, I received a phone call from my OBGYN. My first-trimester blood test had come back with results that were statistically out of range. They told me there was a 70% chance you would have either trisomy-13 or trisomy-18, suggested I terminate the pregnancy or having an amniocentesis.
Your brother—before Eva—had died at four months gestation for the same reason. It's not something a mother can control, it happens or does not happen, but I knew it was possible and agreed the amniocentesis because I wanted to be prepared.
We went into the office. They placed a large needle into my belly while you appeared on the screen in front of us, squirming and moving as they withdrew the fluid around you to test your DNA. Then I waited.
Five days passed while I prepared myself for the worst. Finally, they called me at work and told me that you were perfectly healthy. You were perfect. Because you are.